recently certified, got lots of random questions

[ed.hamilton1]

a little about me.... recently certified open water, nitrox and peak performance buoyancy. with 7 total dives. I am planning on going diving at least two weekends a month.

1) I understand how it is bad to hold your breath if you are ascending, but why is it bad to hold it underwater? (if you are not ascending)

Simple answer is that as a new diver it is really easy to ascend without realizing so why take the risk.

2) Is purchasing a tank worth the trouble? cost effective?

So long as you have a reputable dive shop its probably not worth the expense when you take into account annual visual inspections, five year hydrostatic testing and if you plan on using nitrox your tank will have to be O2 clean.

5) is it bad to workout after diving? i.e. go to the gym for a couple of hours and run a couple of miles or swim?

YES if you don't believe me check out the link. Divers Alert Network

6) how many dives until a new diver should give advanced open water a shot?

PADI requires five open water dives before you complete the Advanced open water course however if you really want to improve your diving I would highly recommend the Peak Performance Buoyancy Speciality.

 

[buddhasummer]

I did my advanced a few years and 100+ dives later and didn't get much if anything from the course except be "allowed" to go deeper. I think the longer you dive/more experience you have after getting OW the value, i.e possible learning gained, of AOW diminishes. Rescue was possibly the most beneficial course I took.

 

[IanBrit]

This is really cool that I can talk to someone about this. I am very curious why everyone keeps asking about a flat lens for underwater use when the rest of the world is paying big bucks for a domed port.

...And I'm really curious what everyone means by "blur."

Here's a video that my buddy shot of me a few weeks ago, using a standard domed port... I don't see anything wrong with it - in fact, the domed port does a very nice job "unzooming" underwater images, IMHO. Care to tell me what this "blur" is? What am I missing?

​

That footage is horribly out of focus and is a classic reason why GoPros underwater MUST HAVE a flat port. Yes, it's counter intuitive to most underwater photography but in this case, there's no debate - it must have a flat port. On the surface, the flat port isn't too bad but I run two cases to get the best out of both environments.

 

[Deep South Divers]

I don't really see that it's "horribly out of focus." I see that there's a lot of particulate in the water, which makes everything look out of focus. I think that a flat port would have made the situation worse because it would have reduced the field of view, and to get the same images the camera would have had to be much further away from the subject. Given that vis was somewhere between 5 and 7 feet that day, I think it would have made the situation WORSE because a lot more particulate would have had to have been between the camera and the subject.

There may also be condensation on the inside of the lenses... That's one thing about the GoPro that is different about any other camera I've used... No silica gel to keep moisture off the lens.

 

[IanBrit]

I don't really see that it's "horribly out of focus." I see that there's a lot of particulate in the water, which makes everything look out of focus. I think that a flat port would have made the situation worse because it would have reduced the field of view, and to get the same images the camera would have had to be much further away from the subject. Given that vis was somewhere between 5 and 7 feet that day, I think it would have made the situation WORSE because a lot more particulate would have had to have been between the camera and the subject.

There may also be condensation on the inside of the lenses... That's one thing about the GoPro that is different about any other camera I've used... No silica gel to keep moisture off the lens.

Looks like we've hijacked a thread. Ok, how can I make this any clearer? The GoPro MUST have a flat port for underwater use if you want anything approaching the HD quality the camera is capable of. Granted this reduces the FOV a little but it's still more than wide enough to capture a useful video with sharp content. Your choice of course, but after about 40 dives with a Go Pro with the flat port and a couple with the original dome, I know which one I'll continue to use.

 

[temet vince]

1. Holding your breath, especially as a new diver, can be hazardous because you don't have buoyancy down pat yet. Just a few feet up or down can damage your lungs. It takes less than you think and happens faster than you think. At least, that's how it was explained to me.

Can you promise, as a new diver, that you are truly not ascending while you are holding your breath? 100% perfect buoyancy?

2. Tank for me = not worth it. Around here, it's $5 a fill or $9 for a tank full of air. Don't forget you have to continuously get your own tanks inspected and hydro'd, so that's more $$$.

3. GoPro picture quality out of water with flat lens depends solely on the brand of flat lens you purchase. Some are okay, some aren't. Youtube is your friend here. Watch reviews on the different brands.

4. Dunno.

5. Dunno. You'll also get a lot of mixed answers on the amount of time to wait until flying after diving. Just one of those questions.

6. As soon as possible imo. Sure, you want enough experience to retain what you've learned, but ow, advanced ow, and rescue diver really should be a single intro course into diving imo. This will probably open a can of worms, but diving has been made so easily obtainable that I feel all 3 courses are really the bare minimum to safely dive. Of course, I only just have my ow myself, so take it with a grain of salt. This is coming from me listening to old timers who have seen the dive industry standards evolve... or devolve.... over the years.

In a nutshell: Ow = learn the basics. OWAdvanced = learn to take care of yourself. RescueDiver = learn to take care of your buddy.
At what training level are you comfortable regularly diving at, even as a beginner? What level would you want your dive buddy at? Just stuff to think about.

 

[TSandM]

1) I understand how it is bad to hold your breath if you are ascending, but why is it bad to hold it underwater? (if you are not ascending)​ There is nothing at all wrong with holding your breath when you are stable in the water column. The problem is that new divers not only have trouble BEING stable in the water column, they are frequently so overloaded with diving mechanics that they don't even NOTICE that they have changed depth. Worse, the times when you might reasonably want to hold your breath (like when taking a photograph) are the times when you are most likely to be sufficiently distracted not to notice a depth change. Arterial gas embolism, the worst complication of breath-holding, has a very high fatality rate, so it is simply not worth the risk, which is why we drum into new divers that they are ALWAYS to be humming or otherwise allowing small numbers of bubbles to escape, if they don't have a regulator in their mouths. Eventually, you can learn airway control, which allows you to arrest your breathing without closing your throat and creating a trapped space. But for a new diver, it's better just to remember never to hold your breath.

2) Is purchasing a tank worth the trouble? cost effective? This depends a lot on how much local diving you intend to do. Over the lifetime of a tank, owning is almost certainly cost-effective if you dive locally at all, as tanks, properly cared for, last more than a decade. But the biggest reason for owning tanks is convenience. If you own your own, you can keep them full, and then you don't have to worry about shop hours to pick up and return them, and it's much easier to dive on the spur of the moment. If all your diving requires driving long distances and has to be planned well in advance, the convenience factor is less convincing.

The other reason for owning your own tanks is to have bigger ones -- many dive shops don't have a wide spectrum of tank sizes available for rent, and few have very large tanks. You may also have trouble finding steels, if that's what you want, as aluminum tanks are easier for the renter because they don't corrode as easily, and they are cheaper.


5) is it bad to workout after diving? i.e. go to the gym for a couple of hours and run a couple of miles or swim? There is some very good evidence that exercising immediately after dives with significant nitrogen loading can increase bubbling and even precipitate decompression sickness. This is probably not an issue for someone sticking to the limits of OW certification, unless you are doing multiple dives in a day or over multiple days. It's probably better to try to schedule your workouts BEFORE going diving. But if you are going to work out, wait at least several hours to do it.

6) how many dives until a new diver should give advanced open water a shot? This depends a great deal on the diver, class and instructor. The PADI AOW class is basically designed to follow hard on the heels of OW, almost like an "OW2" class. If it is taught to minimums, it won't take long before an active diver has enough experience that the class may not offer much. But the class CAN be taught to be valuable later, and other people teach AOW classes that are far more extensive and challenging (our own NW Grateful Diver teaches a fantastic one!)

If you feel weak and shaky in your dive skills, and need some more time with a professional to get things down, doing AOW right away is a good way to do that. But a class like Bob's would not be suitable for that kind of new diver, so you need to talk to the prospective instructor and find out how HE envisions the AOW class as fitting into his student's diving progression.

 

[spectrum]

a little about me.... recently certified open water, nitrox and peak performance buoyancy. with 7 total dives. I am planning on going diving at least two weekends a month.

1) I understand how it is bad to hold your breath if you are ascending, but why is it bad to hold it underwater? (if you are not ascending)

2) Is purchasing a tank worth the trouble? cost effective?

3) I am planning on buying a GoPro, if I buy the flatlens and install it. Will that negatively affect the picture quality out of the water? I am asking because I am planning on using the gopro for skydiving too.

4) I got a zeagle stilleto bcd, used. this guy at a dive shop told me I am missing some weight mesh bags that I am supposed to put inside the weight pockets. he said it should have come with the bcd, is that true? after looking online and couldn't find anything regarding that.

5) is it bad to workout after diving? i.e. go to the gym for a couple of hours and run a couple of miles or swim?

6) how many dives until a new diver should give advanced open water a shot?

1) There is no problem but as a training tactic the mantra is to never hold your breath, keep on breathing. Delaying a breath to manage buoyancy while holding depth for example is OK. To clarify.... this is a diaphragm pause, not a closed glottis/airway breath hold. You should never close your airway! A steady pattern of holding breath (to conserve air) will backfire with poor consumption and a headache. Steady breathing should preside.

2) If you dive regularly then owning tanks is cost effective and an enabler. Many threads can be found in the tank forum.

3) Premature, get your diving down pat first for your good and that of your buddy and camera.

4) I don't know the product but if it's integrated there should be a pair of ditchable pockets. If you are using the integration then contact Zeagle to replace the missing pocket.

5) YES! Your body will still have some level of dissolved gas and a workout is analogous to shaking a bottle of soda pop. Workout pre-dive or much latter in the day.

6) The answer is very individual. Consider AOW when you feel you are making dives comparable to your OW training with modest competency. Basic dives should be fairly automatic. This gives you the bandwidth to realistically broaden your horizons into the deep, night, to navigate, search, recover etc. A few dozen id often appropriate.

Pete

 

[BrotherBear]

Looks like we've hijacked a thread. Ok, how can I make this any clearer? The GoPro MUST have a flat port for underwater use if you want anything approaching the HD quality the camera is capable of. Granted this reduces the FOV a little but it's still more than wide enough to capture a useful video with sharp content. Your choice of course, but after about 40 dives with a Go Pro with the flat port and a couple with the original dome, I know which one I'll continue to use.

And the housing I'd recomend is the new Backscatter version. They really did it up with a 55mm filter ring as well as an adapter system for QR wet filters. They have an underwater filter that is supposed to work wonders down to 40' where you pretty much lose the red altogether. Gonna try it out very soon. Cost is about the same as a lens kit plus a spare housing so it's all pretty equal but you get a bit more for your dinero.

 

[Saxatilis]

welcome to the addiction!

agreed!